Staff report
The U.S. 6th District Appeals Court has returned a lawsuit against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to U.S. District Judge David Bunning for a hearing.
In a decision released Tuesday, the Appeals Court reinstated a claim for damages against Davis in a suit brought by David Ermold and David Moore of Rowan County because Davis refused them a marriage license.
In the summer of 2015, Davis objected to issuing the license on the basis of her own religious beliefs in regard to same-sex marriages.
Last August, Bunning dismissed three lawsuits filed against Davis by same-sex couples, saying the cases were “moot” by a change in state law that removed county clerks’ names from marriage licenses. This meant Rowen County same-sex couples could receive licenses.
The three-judge appeals court panel ruled Tuesday however that the change in the law in 2016 does not eliminate whatever harm Davis caused to couples’ constitutional right to marry in 2015.
The decision applies only to Ermold and Moore who appealed.
They are entitled to have their damage case heard, the judges ruled.
“We conclude that the district court’s characterization of this case as simply contesting the ‘no marriage licenses’ policy is inaccurate because Ermold and Moore did not seek an injunction, they sought only damages. This action is not a general challenge to Davis’s policy, but rather seeks damages for a particularized harm allegedly suffered by a specific set of plaintiffs.”
The court said in conclusion:
Whether Ermold and Moore will prevail on the merits is not a question currently before us. We hold today that our July 13, 2016 order instructing the district court to vacate its preliminary injunction in Miller did not render this damages-only action moot. Therefore, we REVERSE the district court’s judgment and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The opinion
To see the court’s full opinion click here